September 21, 2010

A Libertarian Who Understands Liberals

Most economic right-wingers have an a priori commitment to small government, and thus assume that liberals have a mirror image commitment to big government. Tim Lee, a libertarian, offers a rare exception:

Even the most hardened left-winger doesn’t see government regulation as an end in itself; they see government as a means to various ends, such as public health and safety, economic stability, and so forth. When regulations aren’t achieving those ends, and are instead benefitting special interest groups, it makes sense for liberals to favor their repeal. Not because they favor “deregulation” in the abstract, but because doing so is consistent with liberal values of equality, fairness, freedom, and so forth.